Our Story
The benefits from being on your side of the desk.
In 2007, David Barnes, Ph.D., and Gerry Cox, M.S., CPA, founded Velesco Pharmaceutical Services. The vision was to capitalize on their research experience and expertise in early stage drug development gained from their scientific staff's tenure at the former Pfizer-Michigan facility.
As experts in analytical chemistry and drug formulation development; Velesco scientists have a track record of moving compounds through this significant phase of the drug development process with unrivaled success. Velesco works with state of the art equipment in a high-quality (former Pfizer) facility. Velesco delivers on time, high quality products and services, assistance with the FDA registration process and insightful consultation-just as they would have wanted when sitting on your side of the desk.
Scientific Leadership
| David Barnes, Ph.D. | |
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Dave Barnes is a founder and the chief executive officer of Velesco. Dave worked for Pfizer for 19 years in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division of R&D. He is an accomplished scientist with broad expertise in formulation, product development, clinical supply provision and facility management. He has extensive experience in managing complex scientific and technical projects, many of them outsourced to contract research organizations. Dave is recognized as a technical expert in his field, having written several papers and given many technical presentations at international conferences and symposiums. Dave most recently led the group responsible for coordinating Pfizer's global supply of materials for clinical trials. He has a Ph.D. from The School of Pharmacy, University of London, and is a licensed pharmacist and a registered chemical engineer.
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| Gerry Cox, M.S., CPA | |
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Gerry Cox is a founder and the chief operating officer of Velesco. He worked for Pfizer for 18 years in Corporate and R&D global and site roles. He is an accomplished finance and operations professional with expertise in strategic decision-making, financial planning and analysis, cost management, tax compliance, financial controls and process management/improvement. He has extensive experience in managing change related to mergers, acquisitions and internal restructuring. Gerry most recently was the head of finance for Pfizer's Michigan R&D operations. He earned a B.A. in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross and his Masters in Accounting from Northeastern University. In addition, Gerry is a certified public accountant.
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| Peter Angus, Pharm.D., Ph.D. | |
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As the Director of Analytical Chemistry for Velesco, Peter brings nearly a decade of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry. He has an extensive background in analytical methods development and validation, cleaning verification and validation, project and laboratory management and management of analytical support for clinical supplies manufacture for Phase I and Phase II clinical trials.
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| Lisa Crandall, M.S. | |
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With over seven years of post-graduate experience in cGMP and GLP environments, Lisa serves as the senior analytical scientist at Velesco Pharmaceutical Services. Her experience and expertise in analytical chemistry techniques allow her to focus on the development and validation of analytical methods for the organization.
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Facilities and Instrumentation
Velesco occupies a state-of-the-art former Pfizer facility in Plymouth, Michigan. With over 2,000+ square feet we are able to provide a wide range of services dedicated to early clinical development. Our full-time laboratory staff is highly-trained and qualified to employ the most stringent laboratory testing methods, utilizing our state-of-the-art instrumentation.
Our laboratories are equipped with fully automatic instrumentation providing you with unsurpassed accuracy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Velesco's expertise is with small, synthetic molecules. However, our analytical scientists have the experience and equipment to undertake testing work with small peptides (up to around 20 amino acids).
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Are there any classes of compounds that Velesco is unable to work with?
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Velesco Pharmaceutical Services is not, at this time, licensed to work with radiolabeled materials or controlled substances.
In order to meet various quality guidelines and client requirements, Velesco Pharmaceutical Services does not handle penicillins or cephalosporins.
Our laboratories are equipped with dust hoods that allow us to work with compounds having OELs as low as 10 mcg/ft3(8 hour time weighted average). We understand that many of our clients having novel compounds do not have this safety data; therefore, for hormones, hormone antagonists, steroids and cytotoxic compounds, we have them assessed individually by a consultant safety expert. This consultation is paid for by Velesco even if the material is considered unsuitable for our laboratories.
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Does Velesco outsource work for which they do not have the necessary equipment?
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On those occasions when Velesco is tasked with specific tests for which we don't have the equipment on site (e.g. pXRD or NMR), we make use of our well developed connections with the University of Michigan and other local service providers with whom we have confidentiality contracts.
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Does Velesco perform GMP work?
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Yes, Velesco has a state of the art GMP facility in Western Michigan that allows us to provide packaged clinical supplies of non-sterile products. Our main focus is on supporting early stage studies with API in bottle or capsule, but other dosage forms such as simple topical preparations are also available.
From a laboratory perspective, we have the appropriate quality systems and a number of validated HPLCs to allow us to undertake GMP testing of materials. |
